Every year, Miami University Alumni Association recognizes exceptional alums with the “18 of the Last 9 Award.” Inspired by the school’s founding year of 1809, the award is presented to 18 remarkable alumni who graduated within the last nine years, who are oftentimes nominated by faculty.
The journalism department was proud to have graduated two lucky recipients chosen this year: Madeline Mitchell and Reis Thebault.
“I'm not surprised that they're receiving this honor,” said Joe Sampson, head of the journalism department. “They were deeply involved in their undergraduate experience … They're both very deserving recipients of this award.”
Mitchell, who graduated in 2019, started her first year as an honors student with a double major in theater and interactive media studies. After some encouragement from friends she met abroad, she decided to join The Miami Student and fill the open writer spot. It was there she discovered her passion for journalism.
That next fall semester, she added a journalism major and fell in love. In addition to her academics, she was extremely involved in extracurriculars.
Madeline Mitchell received an “Outstanding New Journalist” award in 2023.
During her four years, she was the president of The Walking Theatre Project, a member of the MUDEC student executive board, a staff writer for The Student and a participant in the Geoffrion Fellowship and Undergraduate Summer Scholars programs. Mitchell packed her schedule tight to get the most out of college, and the experience paid off.
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After a successful internship at The Cincinnati Enquirer her senior year, Mitchell was offered a full-time position right after graduation, where she started on the education beat.
In February, she was promoted to the women and caregiver economy reporter for USA Today. In addition to her work in the journalism field, she continues to use her theater education to write and produce her own plays.
“I made great friends and connections at Miami,” Mitchell said. “I feel like I had opportunities to be creative, to try different things. I would not be where I am now if it was not for Miami University, that’s for sure.”
Thebault, a 2016 graduate, came to Miami with journalism and individualized studies majors. Similar to Mitchell, he was very involved on campus: he served as editor-in-chief of The Student, worked on RedHawk Radio, The Miami Public Radio Project and was a member of CAS Student Ambassadors.
Thebault records his journalism capstone project in the spring of 2016.
After his time interning at The Boston Globe and The Columbus Dispatch, he is now the West Coast correspondent for The Washington Post. He has covered a wide range of topics, including the L.A. fires, school shootings and a plethora of political stories. He said his countless hours writing for The Student aided him the most in getting to where he is today.
“When journalists are good at their job, when they care about the work they're doing, when they think of it really as a public service – that's reflected in the work that they produce,” said Rosemary Pennington, chair of the department of media, journalism and film. “I think you see that in the work of both Reis and Maddie.”
While the list goes on for both alumni’s favorite professors, the two who stood out were Pennington and Sampson. They both witnessed students in their classrooms become award-winning journalists.
“The most gratifying thing is that I know how good our journalism legacy is, how good our professors and our graduates are and how good The Student is,” Thebault said. “So it feels great to be able to represent that.”
Along with the 16 other alums, Mitchell and Thebault will visit Sept. 26 for the 18 of the Last 9 networking lunch to celebrate their accomplishments and connect with current students as well as their old friends still at the university.
“They represent the best of our program and we're happy to welcome them back and celebrate their early career success,” Sampson said.
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